Tim couldn’t imagine who might be calling him at this hour of the night (or morning, as it were). The team wasn’t on weekend duty, so there was no reason for his phone to be ringing at one in the morning. Was this some stupid crank call by Tony?
“‘Lo?” he mumbled, eyes barely open.
There was a pause on the other end. “Hi…” a voice meekly greeted. “I’m so sorry for calling so late. You weren’t asleep, were you?”
The voice was one that Tim recognized though he hadn’t heard it for quite some time. Still, it woke him quickly.
“You probably were,” the speaker continued. “I mean, it’s after midnight. Who stays up that late? Not counting me, of course. Anyway, I’m really, really sorry to call you right now.”
“Ruby?” he asked as he rubbed at his bleary eyes.
“Yeah,” she sighed, “it’s me.”
“Are you okay? No more murders in Edenvale, I hope.”
She gave a small, forced laugh. “Not likely. The most exciting thing to happen since you guys left was Mrs. Strayhorn claiming Mr. Grossman was stealing tomatoes out of her garden.”
By then Tim was more or less awake. He’d kicked off the covers and was sitting on the edge of his bed, feet flat on the floor, rubbing the remaining sleep from his eyes. Jethro was still lying asleep on the floor. Outside, the sky was a dark indigo dotted with softly glowing stars.
“So what can I do for you, Ruby?” he asked, hoping to hurry this along. “Is someone hurt?”
“No…well, not really. I just…geez, this is going to sound lame and all…I was wondering if you could come pick me up. I swear, I would never ask if I had someone else I could call, but I don’t.”
“Pick you up? In Edenvale?”
“I’m in D.C.” she said. “You’re the only person I know here. I’m really, really sorry,” she repeated emphatically.
“Don’t worry,” he assured her as he began pulling on his discarded jeans from that day. “What are you doing down here, though?”
Another pause as Ruby tried to gather the words. “I…uh…well…it’s a long story. I’ll fill you in later.”
“Where are you?”
“In front of the Sheraton Hotel on Massachusetts Avenue.”
Tim bit back a groan. That wasn’t exactly nearby. At this rate he wouldn’t get to sleep until 4:00 am or later. But he knew he couldn’t say no. He’d never forgive himself if he stranded Ruby in some new place and something happened to her.
Hearing his reticence, she added, “I know it’s kind of far and I’m really sorry. If I could call anyone else I would.”
“It’s fine, Ruby. In my line of work you get used to late nights. I should be there in forty-five minutes to an hour. Just wait inside, okay?”
“Yeah,” she said with a cracking in her voice. Was she crying? “I’ll be inside. And Tim, I truly appreciate this. I’ll make it up to you, I swear.”
“Don’t sweat it. What are friends for?”
After hanging up, he pulled on the first T-shirt he could find, slipped on some shoes, and was out the door, keys in hand. At least he could take comfort in the fact that it was Saturday morning and he could sleep in as late as he needed.
Tim pulled his Porsche up to the front of the hotel. He got out, waving off the valet, and explained that he would only be a moment. At this hour there weren’t any other cars waiting to pull in so the tired-eyed valet simply nodded, motioning him in.
The hotel lobby was nearly empty. There was a clerk at the desk who looked like she was more interested in her trashy romance novel than anything else, a janitor who was mopping the floor with about as much enthusiasm as Tim would be doing at this hour, a man sitting on one of the waiting couches with his female companion’s head on his shoulder while she slept, and a slender woman with short deep red hair standing with her back to Tim. He looked around for any sign of Ruby.
“Tim?”
He turned at the call of his name and his jaw nearly dropped. The woman who’d had her back to him was now facing him and he saw that the woman was none other than Ruby herself. They hadn’t seen each other in three years, though they’d kept in touch during that time, exchanging e-mails and sometimes letter. In that time Ruby had also undergone a great physical transformation. She’d lost weight, giving her body something more akin to an hourglass shape. The tight, wine-colored dress she wore displayed her new body nicely, showing a generous amount of cleavage. The dress ended just below her knees, showing off her now shapely legs. Considering he’d only ever seen her in baggy pants, shapeless shirts, and a long lab coat, actually seeing Ruby’s body came as a shock to Tim. Also a shock was that she’d cut her hair to chin-length and had colored it a much darker red. It framed her face and made her eyes pop even more.
As he stood there, still dumbfounded, Ruby sprinted carefully toward him, her four-inch heels clacking against the hard floor. She engulfed him in a tight hug, one he reciprocated, resting her head on his chest. “Thank you for coming,” she whispered. When she pulled back he saw that her eyes were red and her make-up was smudged. She had been crying, that was for certain.
“Come on,” he said, leading her out to his car. He opened her door and made sure she was secure before going around to the driver side door and sliding in. She was silent as he pulled out on to the street, merging with what little traffic there was. All he heard from her were a couple of sniffles.
“I hope you don’t mind crashing at my place for the night,” Tim said. He didn’t want to drive all the way out to Edenvale at this hour.
“That’s fine,” Ruby said as she rested her head against the window. “No one is expecting me back until tomorrow.”
“Are you cold? Because I can turn on the heat,” he offered.
“No, I’m okay.”
“You don’t look okay.”
She gave him a sad smile. “That obvious?”
“Well, when you need to be picked up from a hotel this early in the morning I figure there’s something going on.”
“I guess that’s what makes you a good investigator.” Ruby pulled a tissue from her handbag and blew her nose before continuing. “There’s this guy, Dale Landis. He came out to Edenvale for the first time about four or five months ago. He’s a delivery man and he brings supplies out to the station every other week. Anyway, he started flirting with me and I got really excited. I’ve changed a bit.”
“Yeah, I noticed,” Tim told her.
She smiled. “The problem is I don’t like any of the guys in Edenvale. They’re nice enough, sure, but that town is so predictable. Dale, though, was so new and interesting. I kind of became a school girl with a crush,” she admitted abashedly. “It’s so pathetic, I know.”
“There’s nothing pathetic about being attracted to someone.”
“But that’s just it; I wasn’t really attracted to him. I was just attracted to the idea of him and I liked the attention he gave me.” She dabbed at her eyes with the tissue, wiping away her smudged mascara. “Everyone told me it was a bad idea, that I shouldn’t get involved with someone who lived that far away, but I ignored them, of course. Stupid, stupid,” she whispered, berating herself.
“Stop beating yourself up over it. We all make mistakes.”
“This was a super-mega mistake, Tim.”
He didn’t push the point, instead continuing on with the story. “So how’d you end up all the way out here?”
“Well, we’d been kind of dating for three months. He’d come in to Edenvale and we’d go out for lunch. A few times he stayed until I got off work and we’d grab dinner or he’d come back to my place.” At that her cheeks tinged red. Tim didn’t ask her to elaborate. “Anyway, a few weeks back he asked how I’d feel about spending the weekend in the city. He said he’d get us a hotel room and we could see the sights and all of that. I said sure, it sounded like fun.”
“And something went wrong,” Tim guessed..
“More than just something. We went out to a really late dinner and got back to the hotel room. We were…um…well, you know...and there was a knock at the door. Want to guess who it was?”
He shook his head. “Not a clue.”
“It was Mrs. Landis. His wife. He has a wife! Not even just a wife, though; he also has two kids! I was sleeping with a married father! Do you know what this means? I’m the other woman! I’m a home-wrecker!” she yelled. “How can I be that woman?”
“Ruby,” he said soothingly, “you can’t blame yourself. It’s not like you knew he was married and just decided to have an affair. He tricked you. You’re as much a victim in this as his wife.”
But Ruby was beyond reason by this point. Her body was crumpled over, face in her hands as she sobbed. Tim couldn’t bear to just sit there and see her like that. He pulled over onto the shoulder of the road and put the car in park. Then he undid his seat belt and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. She let her body fall against his, pressing her face against his shoulder.
“It’s okay,” he said softly as he rubbed her back. His words were drowned out by her crying. “Ruby, you didn’t know.”
“How could I have been so stupid? I should have figured something was wrong. I mean, he was interested in me of all people. That’s got to be a sign he isn’t all there, right?”
“Are you always this self-deprecating?”
“When I’m emotional,” she admitted, “and when I had a lot to drink at dinner.”
He took her by the shoulders and looked her dead in the eyes. “Look, you’re a beautiful and intelligent girl who just happened to be conned by a jerk. It can happen to anyone.”
“No,” she disagreed, “it could only happen to someone as gullible as I am. I have terrible luck with guys.”
Raised his eyebrows and smiled wryly. “You want to talk about bad luck with romance, Ruby? The girls in my past failed relationships include a girl who stole from me for kicks, an assassin who was only using me to find another assassin, and an online level five sorceress who turned out to be DiNozzo under a fake account. The most successful relationship I’ve had in the past seven years has been with Abby who wasn’t interested in getting as serious as I wanted to and my parents keep hinting to me that they’d like grandkids in the near future. I think I win in the Crappiest Love Life category.”
“Yeah,” she agreed, finally smiling a true smile, “you’re love life sucks more than mine. Sorry, I shouldn’t have gone on like that.”
“It’s good to let it out. I mean, you got hurt and I understand wanting to cry.”
“I just feel so lame,” she said, wiping her cheeks with the heel of her hand. “I call you at this hour and ask you to come all the way out here to pick me up and then I just blubber like a baby about my stupid life.”
“You’re too hard on yourself. I’d much rather you call me if you need help than wait it out and maybe get hurt. It’s not like you called for something stupid; you needed help. Now I don’t want to hear you put down on yourself anymore tonight, okay?”
“Just tonight?”
“Let’s start with tonight and see if it doesn’t stick,” he said as he buckled his seat belt again. “Now let’s get home. I’m exhausted and you look like you could use some sleep too.”
As if to answer his question, Ruby let out a wide-mouthed yawn as he started the car once again and pulled on to the road. “Thanks, Tim,” she murmured as she closed her eyes. “You’re the sweetest guy I know.”
Reviews - 15 Ξ Table of Contents Ξ Chapters: 4 Ξ Completed: Yes Ξ 
Chapter or Story Ξ - Text Size + Ξ [Report This]
Chapter or Story Ξ - Text Size + Ξ [Report This] Summary: After three years Tim and Ruby meet again under unusual circumstances. When the word spreads, some people begin to get the wrong idea. Written for the Encore Challenge.
Rated: FR13
Categories: General, General > Humor
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Humor
Warnings: None
Challenges: Encore Challenge
Challenges: Encore Challenge
Series: None